High school baseball: Perkins falls 10-0 in state semifinal loss to Bloom-Carroll (with video)

Ben Barnes/ImpactActionPhotos.com
Perkins Junior Braun Miller and teammates are consoled by fans after their 10-0 semifinal loss to Bloom-Carroll, on June 7, during the Division II State semifinals at Huntington Park in Columbus.

COLUMBUS — A rough start put Perkins in a hole and ultimately led to its 10-0 defeat in a Division II baseball state semifinal game against Bloom-Carroll on June 6 at Huntington Park.
Bloom-Carroll (28-3) touched the Pirates (26-6) for nine runs over the first two innings, ultimately winning the game in the sixth on an RBI single.
“The blankets fell off of the horses today,” Perkins coach Ray Neill said. “You could see and feel nervousness in our pregame. A lot of happy feet and a lot of nerves.”
It looked as though junior Braun Miller would pick up where he left off against Keystone in the Tiffin regional semifinal, when he struck out 14 batters. Miller got Jarrett Peters to strike out on four pitches. However, a single by Roger Danison and a double by Bulldogs junior starting pitcher Sam Bordner started the scoring for Bloom-Carroll, who scored two in the first inning, with Bordner coming around on a bases-loaded catcher interference call.
Miller may have gotten three strikeouts in the inning, reminiscent of his performance against Keystone, but the two runs put Perkins in an early hole.
“What we needed to do was go out and play well for the first couple of innings,” Neill said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t do that job in regards to making some plays.”
The first inning was particularly rough on the Pirates defense, which recorded two errors and allowed Bordner to score as an unearned run.
However, as rough as the first inning was, the second was worse.
Bloom-Carroll sent 12 men to the plate en route to a five-hit, seven-run inning.
“I thought our kids were really relaxed,” Bloom-Carroll coach Brian Thacker said. “We were able to jump on them because we were more relaxed.”
After walking the leadoff hitter, Miller got Peters to pop out on a sacrifice-bunt attempt. That was the last out Miller would record, as three singles, a double and a hit-batsmen put the Pirates in a 5-0 hole.
Senior Luke Fraley entered for the Pirates with the bases loaded. The Bulldogs got Fraley for four more runs, only one of which was credited to him, and Bloom-Carroll had a 9-0 lead after two innings.
“After we got down 9-0, I commend them for battling,” Neill said. “The goal became, you know, let’s make this go a full seven.”
The full game was not quite in the cards for the Pirates. Outside of the second inning, Fraley was phenomenal, allowing only three hits from the third on. However, the last hit by Tyler Sorg was a single to left that scored Seth Paszke and gave Bloom-Carroll a berth in the D-II state final on June 7.
“I just wanted to get our team through this,” Fraley said. “I wanted to help us get through the game. We didn’t quite make it to seven, but I think, after we calmed down, we played a good game.”
It may not have been the ending they had hoped for, but Perkins will not forget their state final four appearance anytime soon.
“I think we could have beat this team today,” Fraley said. “Yes, I do believe that. We came to play, but I think everything caught up to us. Either way, though, this was a great experience. I’m glad to say that I made it to the final four.”

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About the Author

Jon is a 2011 graduate of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. While at Calvin, Jon worked for the college newspaper, Chimes, where he was the sports editor and co-managing editor. Jon began writing for The Morning Journal in March of 2013. Reach the author at jbehm@morningjournal.com
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